Winch



WINCH Filecr April 6, 14o 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR DONALD ROBERT STONELY fiMM v/ Y ATTORNEYS 1942- D. R. STONELY 2,300,601 I WINCH Filed April 6, 1940 4 SheetsQSheet 2 5i 3 7 3 3/ U a. 1 a 7 E 6' 5a 17 58 7 j? B5 19 j! 63 4 d W 31 INVENTOR DONALD ROBERT STONELY Nov. 3, 19 42.

.43. R. STONELY wmcn Filed April 6, 1940 4 sheds-sheet 5 INVENTOR DONALD ROBER'I STOHELY 2m flan/W ATTORNEYS Nov. 3, 1942.

p. R. STONELY WINCH Filed April 6, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR DONALD ROBERT STONELY By ATTORNEYS? Patented Nov. 3, 1942 f OFFICE WINCH.

Donald Robert Stonely, Wandsworth, London,

England, assignor to Gyral Gears Limited;

Wandsworth, 1 3

London, England, a British com- Application April 6, 1940, Serial No. 328303 In Great Britain December 4, 1939 adapted to be wound wherein rotation of the drum is effected by operating gear including a clutch adapted to disengage when a driving effort in excess of a predetermined value is applied and a gyrating gear engaging an internally toothed ring fixed within said winding drum.

According to another feature of the invention 7 the winding drum is mounted within a casing and means are provided to transmit the rotary movement of the operating device to an element held stationar during normal operation, should a stoppage occur due to binding of slack cable between the drum and casing.

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example a construction according to the invention and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a winch,

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the winch taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the winch taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a side elevation showing one application of the winch shown in Figs. 1 to 4,

Fig. 6 is a detail view, on an enlarged scale, of the driving clutch, and.

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 'i-'l in Fig. 6.

Referring first to Figs. 1-4, the device shown comprises a casing l in which is mounted a winding drum 2 which is supported on trunnions journalled in the side plates of the casing. The periphery of the drum 2 is provided with a helical groove 3 adapted to receive successive convolutions of a winding cable 55 to be wound thereon.

Within the drum 2 there is mounted an internal gear secured thereto by means of bolts 5, which serve also to secure one cheek 6 of the drum in position. The gear 4 is engaged by a planet gear 7 of slightly smaller diameter than the gear 4, which is rotatably mounted on bearings on an eccentric 8, formed or mounted on the end of a hollow shaft 9 which is itself located within a hollow shaft ID to which it is keyed by 55 carries at its outer enda means of afeather H. The shaft I0 is journalled within one trunnion of the drum 2 and ratchet wheel I2 and also one element l3 of a dog' clutch having teeth I4. The dog clutch also comprises a complementary element which is rotatably'mounted on the protruding stub end of the hollow shaft 9, and carries a squared sleeve to receive and fit into a correspondingly shaped hub it of a crank I! having a handle l8 by which the winch is turned. a

The two elements of the clutch device are drawn together by means of a spring I9 which is mounted on a bolt member 20, the spring and bolt member being located within the hollow shaft 9. The spring bears at its outer end upon an inwardly directed flange 2| formed on the outer end of the hollow shaft 9. At its other end the spring I!) bears upon the head 22 of the bolt member 29. The bolt member is attached at its outer end to the member 15 by means of a nut 23. A cap 24 screwed into the member l5 may be provided to cover the nut 23.

. At its inner end the shaft 9 is journalled in the inner end of a hollow shaft 25 rotatable in bear ings 38 carried in a trunnion of the winding drum, which trunnion is itself rotatable in bearings 31 in the wall of casing I. The inner end of the shaft 25 terminates in a flange or disc 39 having slots 46 formed theretwo diametrically opposed in engaged by radial projections 4| formed on a floating ring 26 whose opposite side is'formed with a further pair of radial projections 2? disposed at right angles to the first pair and en-- gaging radial slots 42 formed in the gear 1. This arrangementembodying the floating ring 26 is a development of the well known Oldham coupling and allows the gear 1 to make gyratory movements relatively to the shaft 25 to which it is coupled.

The ratchet wheel I 2 formed on the end of the shaft I0 is engaged bya pawl 3| pivoted on the side plate of the supporting stand I and urged into engagement with the ratchet wheel by a spring 32 to permit rotation of the shaft 9 in the cable winding direction and prevent retrograde rotation thereof, the pawl 3I being disengageable from the ratchet wheel 12 to permit rotation of the shaft 9 in a cable unwinding direction.

A braking arrangement is provided for con.- trolling rotation of the drum 2, said arrangement comprising one or more brake shoes 33 mounted on one side plate of the supporting is a compression spring and stand I, and urged by means such as a spring 34 into engagement with a suitable friction surface 35 formed on or attached to the drum 2. A layer of friction material 36 may be attached to each brake shoe. This braking arrangement which is continually effective whether the winch is being operated towind or unwind, is provided to obtain a damping effect and thereby prevent the winding drum from gathering too much momentum when the cable is pulled out freely. It will be appreciated that by disengagement of the pawl 3I from its ratchet wheel I2 turning of the drum 2 in the opposite sense may be brought about. The casing is providedwith a standard or foot 44 for assi'stin'gin thesupport of the casing as hereinafter described.

The driven clutch member I3 carries ,aring 45 around which is wrapped a friction-brake band 46 one end of which is anchored tothe casing at 4'! and the other end of which is connected to an adjustingfscrew 48 whose action is to increase or decrease the compression of a spring 49 and thereby enable a tension of the said brake band to be applied sufficient to steady the operation of the device but not interfere with its operation at a normal speed. In order to relieve the driving means of the effect of the brake during the cable winding operation, the brake band 46 is preferably arranged to act on a ring I3 rotatably mounted on the periphery of the ring 45 and provided with ratchet teeth I3 with which spring pressed pawls I3 on the ring-45 cooperate, these ratchet teeth and pawls being arranged to engage and drive the ring B and thereby apply a braking action and thus control the unwinding of the cable, but to act idly and thus render the brake ineffective during the winding of the cable.

The shaft 25 has mounted thereon a ratchet toothed wheel 5I engaged by a pawl 52 pivotally mounted on .a pin 53 carried in the wall of the casing and having a hand Iretracting arm 54.

To provide for the stowage of the handle I'I-I 8 when not in use, a socket 56 is formed in the standard 44 through whichthe handle grip I8 is passed while the; crank portion I'I extends parallel to the side of the casing so thatthe hub I6 passes over a stud 51 fixed in the side of the casing. The handle is temporarily locked in operating position by means of a plunger53 mounted in a socket 59 fixed to the hub I6, said plunger being adapted to engage in arecess formed in the sleeve on the clutch member I5,and from which the plunger can be withdrawn against the action of a spring 50 by pulling outwardly an operating knob 6 I. This arrangement also serves to hold the handle against accidental detachment from the sleeve of the clutch member, I5 during operation of the handle, the plunger. 58 engaging in a surrounding groove 62 in the said sleeve.

The mechanism above described operates as follows:

The clutch memberspl3 and I5 are normally held by the spring I9, in the position of engagement shown in Fig. 2 so that when the crank I1 is rotated, the rotary movement is transmitted through shafts I and 9 to the eccentric 8. R0- tation of the eccentric 81 causes the gear I to move in a gyratory sensearound the gear 4. In the construction illustrated, the handle I8 is turned in a clockwise direction (looking at Fig. 1) to wind cable onto the drum 2, and owing to the fact that the gear I cannot rotate, the drum 2 rotates also in a clockwise direction. .The gear I tendsto rotateinan; anti -clockwise direcegages ratchet wheel I and holds shaft 25 against anti-clockwise rotation, so long as the cable is under load.

I Should the load on the drum 2 increase unduly, the reaction set up between the two parts I3 and I5 of the clutch device develops an axial component-determined by the form given to the teeth I4, as shown in Figs. 6 and '7, which causes parts I3 and I5 to separate against the action of the spring I9 whereby slipping of the clutch takes place. In this manner, overloading of the device is prevented and the attention of the operator is drawn to the overload.

As long as a weight is being hauled, lifted or lowered, the cable 55 is held taut but when the cable is slack it is liable to jump the grooves 3 and become wedged between the drum 2 and the inner wall of the casing I.

- This result is particularly liable to occur if an attempt is made tounwind with a slack cable. Should the handle I8 be rotated anticlockwise with a slack cable, springs 34, acting through brake shoes 33, prevent the drum from rotating and the mechanism idles or free wheels, because the handle I8 is being rotated in an anticlockwise direction, to unwind the cable, but with the drum stopped, clockwise rotation is transmitted to shaft 25 by reason of gear I rolling around within the now stationary gear I4, pawl 52 permitting ratchet wheel 5| to slip past it in a clockwise direction. This operation produces a free-wheel effect of the-driving mechanism inside the stationary drum 2, which prevents further unwinding of the cable andgives an audible signal to the operator by reason of pawl 52 slipping from tooth to tooth. The operator then lifts pawl 52 by rocking the arm 52 and pulls out the cable by hand. This is particularly advantageous because, should the cable become wedged between the drum and the casing the free wheeling action releases the drum and prevents it from becoming more tightly wedged.

This operation can also be performed should a stoppage occur during winding in, in which case the cable which has jumped grooves 3 can be pulled out by hand and subsequently re-wound.

The arrangement just described is advantageous because the wedging of the drum can be a gradual operation, offering insufficient resistance to cause the clutch members I3 and I5 to slip until the parts have become extremely tightly wedged.

When lowering a load the pawl 3I is lifted and the handle turned in an anti-clockwise direction (looking at Fig. 1) until the load rests upon the ground or other support. After this, any further turning of the handle will not pay out additional cable because this produces a slack cable condition, brake-shoes -33 stop the drum and the freewheel action just described comes into play immediately, the drum stopping and shaft 25 starting to rotatein a clockwise direction, with pawl 52 idly slipping-past the teeth Qfratchet wheel 5|. Ifhe drive can be applied to shaft 25 by transferring the Mi di g handle I 1-148 thereto,

' while compensating to apply a direct drive through the planet gear I to rotate the drum 2 for obtaining a quick windin, when no load is on the cable. Further, by retracting the pawl 52 from the ratchet wheel 5|, a free pull-out can be obtained when the cable is loaded or pulled.

When winding-in is completed the attention of the operator is drawn thereto by slipping of the clutch i 3I4 through which the shaft 9 is driven.

The application of the invention to a winch for use in loading bombs into aircraft is shown in Fig. 5. In this arrangement, the winding handle is dispensed with and operation effectedvby a motor 66 although the construction remains such that a winding handle can be interchangeable with the motor. The casing is supported by the standard 44 which has laterally extending feet 61 while the hood 64 is supported by a location member 68 fixed in the aircraft structure. The casing is also provided with a supporting pad 69 on which it is supported in addition to the feet 61 when tilted to a rest position.

The cable 55 passes out of the casing through an extension 63 the outer end of which terminates in a hood 64 enclosing a pulley 65 around which the cable passes and terminates in a vertical portion 55 to which a load is adapted to be attached in any convenient manner,

I claim:

1. A winch comprising a casing, a drum mounted rotatably in the casing and adapted to wind a cable on its periphery, an internal gear fixed to said drum, a gyratory gear within and cooperative with said internal gear, an operating shaft mounted rotatably in one side of the casing and having an eccentric thereon cooperative with said gyratory gear for gyrating it within the internal gear to rotate said drum in one or the other direction to wind or unwind the cable, a clutch connected to said operating shaft for driving it, said clutch being releasable by a driving effort in excess of a predetermined value, ratchet means cooperative with said operating shaft and operable to permit rotation thereof in a direction to effect rotation of the drum in a cable winding direction and releasable to permit rotation of said shaft in a cable unwinding direction, a second shaft mounted rotatably in the other side of the casing in alinement with said operating shaft and capable of rotation independently thereof, a floating coupling interposed between said second shaft and gyratory gear operative to sustain rotative reaction of said gyratory gear for the gyratory movement thereof, and ratchet means cooperative with said second shaft and operative to lock the latter against rotation in one direction under the reaction of the gyratory gear while rotating the drum in a cable winding direction but permitting rotation of said second shaft in the opposite direction under an excess reaction of the gyratory gear while rotating the drum in cable unwinding direction.

2. A winch comprising a casing having a cable outlet, a drum rotatable in the casing and adapted to have a cable wound thereon and passed opposite direction,

through said outlet, an internal gear carried by said drum, a gyratory gear within and meshing with said internal gear, drive means for gyrating said gyratory gear within said internal gear, means for preventing rotation of said gyratory gear about its axis when it is gyrated in a direction to wind up cable on said drum by said drive means and being automatically operable to allow said gyratory gear to both gyrate and rotate freely about its axis in the opposite direction when driven by said drive means in said opposite direction when there is no load upon the cable, or when the cable becomes wedged between the drum and casing, so as to effect a free.- wheeling action and arrest rotation of said drum.

3. The winch defined in claim 2, wherein said drive means includes a clutch automatically disengageable to release said gyratory gear when the latter opposes rotation with a torque in excess of a predetermined magnitude, for relieving the device of abnormally high stresses.

4. In a winch construction, a stationary casing having aligned openings in opposite walls, a rotor structure having an internal gear and spaced hollow hubs, bearing means journalling said hubs in said casing openings, a drive shaft journalled within one hub portion and a reaction shaft journalled within the other, said shafts having their neighboring ends telescoped and journalled one within the other inside said rotor, an eccentric on said drive shaft, a spur gear rotatable on said eccentric and meshing with said internal gear, and means for coupling said spur gear to said reaction shaft.

5. The winch construction defined in claim 4, together with means for preventing rotation of said shafts in one direction, and selectively operable means for driving either of said shafts in the for effecting either a slow or fast wind-in of cable.

6. In a winch construction, a drum mounted for rotation, an internal gear carried by said drum, a drive shaft mounted for independent rotation about the axis of said drum and having an eccentric portion, a spur gear rotatably mounted on said eccentric portion and constantly meshing with said internal gear, a reaction shaft mounted for coaxial rotation with said drive shaft and drum, a flexible coupling connecting said spur gear to said reaction shaft, means for rotating said drive shaft to cause said spur gear to gyrate within said internal gear, and looking means for restraining said reaction shaft against rotation, so as to cause gyration of said spur gear to effect rotation of said drum to wind cable upon, or unwind cable from said drum, direction of rotation of said DONALD ROBERT STONELY. 

